If you're gonna call yourself the heaviest band in New Orleans, you just might as well name yourself after a planet and star destroying monster. King Ghidorah, if you must. This galactic bad-ass is best known for its appearance in Godzilla movies. In 1964 it appeared in its first, "Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster."

There's some very entertaining background about Ghidorah that I gleamed from two websites(tohokingdom.com and godzilla.monstrous.com). I'd put it right here, but then you'd never get to the writing about the New Orleans band named after the monster. Look for it after the review.

It seems like the guys(and girls) in New Orleans dealing with noise and atonal music are doing so because either no-one else is doing it or because they've exhausted their exploration of every other genre. So, on a sideways slant, it makes sense that three members of ambient, trippy, instrumental local band Chef Menteur are also the members of drone heavy King Ghidorah.

The trio gathered on the floor in front of the stage and started their instrumental improvisation. Their ominous ferocity was evident from the first rumble of speakers, but King Ghidorah never got to the louder, second part of their performance. After about ten minutes, the band was approached first by the bartender and then by the sound guy to turn down their amps. Only their amps, mind you. They weren't even using the P.A., and they were still too loud, even after they turned down a little after the first warning. Backporchrevolution.com, home to local electronic explorations, posted this notice after the gig:

"Hi Ho! ... R.I.P.

It's official: the Hi Ho is no longer a place for bands to play. Each member of King Ghidorah was demanded to turn down twice by the management of the formerly almost-anything-goes Hi Ho Lounge. If you can't play loud at a shitty punk rock club in laissez-faire N.O., what's the fucking point?"

True. It's not like the Hi-Ho had distinguished patrons or neighbors to protect. Everyone equally and automatically assumes a lower-than-scum status when they enter the Hi-Ho, and that was the attraction of the place--until now. The previous touring band was actually much louder than King Ghidorah, but they had melody. As evidenced by the Rush that the bartender didn't turn off until an audience member made him, I don't think he liked the drone music, and that's probably why the plug was pulled.

Still, hearing that the Hi-Ho, of all places, told a group to turn down is a good impetus to see that band. The incident was evidence that King Ghidorah might actually be the heaviest band in New Orleans. You're gonna have to pry that title out of their dead hands, now.

KING GHIDORAH BACKGROUND

---Taken from tohokingdom.com

Planets, stars, entire civilizations have been destroyed in but a few moments. Passing their shattered and torn graves, cackling siren screams called into the night. Sweeping to the farthest regions on promises of bestowed judgment and death. Seething with destruction in its blood, the golden demon King Ghidorah will conceal its form in the confines of its blazing fireball womb. The flames lying close to its blackened soul, filling the creature with life and energy. Then, in acts of only the deepest of sins, the ember stone egg is jettisoned off, crossing the black voids of space. Its destination: a new world to purge and decimate.

Crashing to Earth, the creature's presence caused a reaction, awakening huge behemoths from their slumber. Godzilla and Rodan were reawakened. Meanwhile humanity watched in horror as the demonic egg birthed huge scarlet flames. Fire and smoke that took on a life of its own, twisting and congesting into the night sky. Lashing against themselves and taking on the form of King Ghidorah. Spreading its wide leathery wings, it took off, and laid waste to all life that dare to see its godly form. However, the demon met unexpected retaliation. Standing to defend mankind, Godzilla, Rodan, and Mothra beat back the devil. Its three heads covered in thick silk, King Ghidorah fled, flapping back to the cold arctic depths of space.

Greatly angered by his thwarted advents he sore to bring, the King of Terror flew to another planet; consequently, one that was unknown to the populace of Earth. A planet on the dark side of Jupiter named Planet X. Living on this world were a race of machine like beings dubbed the Xilian. Seeing the monster as a perfect tool for their future planes, they captured the demon. Following the next steps of their plan, they sent out radio waves to Earth, alerting mankind of their existence. The astronaut pair of Fuji and Glen arrived soon, and was coaxed, along with the rest of humanity, into allowing the Xilian to have Godzilla and Rodan. They begged for the monsters, insisting that the newly arrived creature King Ghidorah threatened to destroy their people. Falling for the trick, humanity allowed the aliens to take the twin terrestrial kaijus to the new planet, and successfully fight off the dragon. In exchange for the behemoths, the Xilian promised a medical drug that would cure all diseases. Deceit was brought, when the drug turned out to be a tape recording that told the Earthlings to surrender and become a new colony of Planet X. If humanity did not comply within 24 hours, the Xilian warned of the consequences. Needless to say, humanity stood its ground and created a plan to fight back. However, the A-Cycle Light Ray Guns were still be constructed as Godzilla, Rodan, and King Ghidorah were released. Laying waste to anything that moved, the trio of monsters nearly succeed, when finally mankind's technology prevailed. Released from their control, the monsters fought amongst themselves. Their ongoing war pulling them from a craggy cliff, and into the seas below. Only the space dragon surfaced, fleeing back to space.

Gliding through the frigid vacuum, the creature was again found. Seeing a god to add to their might, a race called the Nebulan Space Hunter M took control. Combing the horror with their own twisted cyborg Gigan, the two descended to earth, and again nearly destroyed all of mankind. Planes, tanks, masers, all fell before the might of the duo. Only through the courage of Godzilla and Anguirus, were the beasts sent into retreat, soaring into the fathomless regions of space.

Gliding on its way, the golden terror's travels didn't go unnoticed. Gazing from afar, the Garogas saw the perfect tool in their latest and greatest plans to conquer Earth. Scheming to block the flow of sunlight to Earth, they planed to use an item called the Dark Prism. The crystal would deflect the sun's rays, and transform the world into a cold lifeless rock. With malice clutching their soul, the alien race captured King Ghidorah, making the creature instinctively seek out the Dark Prism. Cast down from the heavens, King Ghidorah rampaged its destruction on Earth. Its new and improved gravity beams, being able to levitate cars, homes, and signs. However, the abomination wouldn't last, and Earth's hope, Zone Fighter, stepped in. However, there was nothing he could do to stop the cackling dragon. Mustering the last ounce of strength, the hero flew into space, leading the creature from Earth.

Out in space, Zone Fighter leads the ancient horror towards an asteroid, but suddenly all contacts with Zone family is lost, and King Ghidorah disappears. Meanwhile on Earth, the Garogas agents have taken prisoner the Zone Family. Realizing their fate, Zone Fighter heads back and frees them. Yet in his absence, King Ghidorah is unleashed. With sweeping wings, and suspending gravity beams, the celestial reptile destroys the facility that housed a scientist vowing to stop the Dark Prism. Little time passes, before finally Zone Fighter is able to fight again. Throwing his courage in the fray, he saw to end the destruction caused by King Ghidorah forever. Zone Fighter attacked King Ghidorah, but once again the space beast triumphed, and the hero is forced to lead the demon away. Taking off, Zone Fighter heads back to the asteroid.

Prays followed, as the final battle prepared to show itself on the rock's surface. Assaulting with flurries of punches and kicks, Zone Fighter fought. Though King Ghidorah was still too much. Unleashing a new technique, by combining all three of it's gravity beams, into one hellish wave of pain, the gleaming monster nearly succeeded in destroying the protector. The Garogas race was on the verge of victory, if not for the interference of the Zone Family. Together, Zone Fighter was able to topple the titan, and turn his blistering arsenal upon the demon. Though he was not able to kill the creature, he severely wounded it, and returned to Earth exhausted.

Time passed on Earth, and peace grew. Then on the brimming hour of the next century, another race of aliens attacked. Calling themselves the Kilaaks, the race quickly took control of all the Earth's monsters. Sending them out in waves, Earth's defenses were weakened. Only through the will of the human spirit, did mankind prevail and regain control of the monsters. However, the Kilaaks were a noble and proud race, and threw in their last triumph card: King Ghidorah was released on earth once again. The demon struck against the monster legion, fighting back viciously. The golden dragon knocked back the forces of Earth for only a bit. In the end though, even the cosmic strength of the celestial beast was not enough, and King Ghidorah was killed. Cast into the open maw of Earth's land, never to be seen again.

---Taken from www.godzilla.monstrous.com

Ghidorah, the ultimate evil, is a planet-destroyer monster. It travels through space as a meteor but shows up as a golden, three-headed, bat-winged dragon with two tails.

Ghidorah first appeared in "Ghidorah the Three Headed Monster". A woman delivers a message from the martians (venusians) regarding the coming of an new monster that already destroyed Mars's (Venusí) city, Mellenia, before. Rodan and Godzilla were about to break out and start to destroy Japan when Mothra (in larva form) convinced both of them that they needed to work together to fight Ghidorah, who was just born out of a meteorite. Mothra first resisted Ghidorah alone but was about to give away then Godzilla and Rodan had a change of heart and helped defeat Ghidorah. It was a long fight but Ghidorah eventually retreated into space. Later the monstrous dragon lands on Planet X, where it tries to pursue its celestial reign of terror in the sequel Invasion of Astro-Monster (or Godzilla vs. Monster Zero, 1965). In his search for destruction, the monster alternatively teamed up with Gigan and was somehow manipulated by alien races, the Xians, the Kilaaks, and the Spacehunter Nebula aliens.

The new Ghidorah's (Heisei series) origin lay not in space but in the future. It was created from the atomic fusion of three genetically engineered creatures (called Dorats). His middle head severed by Godzilla, it was revived another time by an evil alien from the future (Futurian), who refurbished him as Mecha-King Ghidorah.